Does Hill-mentum, McCain-mentum, or Obama-mentum float your boat? Or are you an apathetic non-voter, drowning in a noncommittal sea of soothing no-mentum?
I did a short piece for the Boston Globe recently on a neato word trend, the rapidly spreading use of -mentum, especially in political blogs. As I semi-wildly speculated in the article, this has a real shot at catching on. Though we love blaming the media for turning politics into a horse race, who doesn't get caught up in the polls, the numbers, the finish line, etc.? The -mentum trend seems like it nails our primary (if not, only) way of thinking about elections. Go team!
In other news, I'm getting a little weary of the political horse-race metaphor, and I kind of hate myself for using it in print twice in one week. Gah. What other mindless sporting event is an election like? NASCAR? Jai alai? Ultimate fighting? Competitive eating? Thumb-wrestling, perhaps?
